BASF SE confirmed Friday that it is in preliminary talks to acquire Evonik Industries, Germany's second-largest chemical maker, in a deal that would mark the biggest consolidation move in Europe's chemical industry in years. The company said it is discussing a potential voluntary public takeover offer for all Evonik shares with RAG-Stiftung, Evonik's largest shareholder, and with Evonik itself.

The approach was first reported by the Financial Times before BASF confirmed it directly. In its own statement, Evonik said it had \"received a non-binding approach from BASF regarding a voluntary public takeover offer for all shares of the company,\" but stressed there were, as of Friday, no active negotiations between the two sides — in other words, still just an approach, with the outcome very much undecided.

BASF struck a similarly cautious tone in its own release: \"The course and outcome of these exploratory talks remain open at this stage.\" The company said it regularly evaluates acquisitions that strengthen its core operations and create shareholder value, and pledged to update the market \"without unnecessary delay\" on any material developments, per standard German disclosure rules.

The numbers

Evonik carries a market capitalization of roughly €8.4 billion, with an enterprise value — including net debt — of about €12 billion, according to Bloomberg's reporting on the talks. BASF, by comparison, posted roughly €60 billion in 2025 sales and employs about 95,000 people worldwide. Markets reacted swiftly on the news Friday: Evonik shares jumped 7.6% on takeover hopes, while BASF shares fell 3.4% as investors weighed the cost and integration risk of swallowing a rival its own size.

Both companies have spent years squeezed by high European energy costs, cheap chemical imports from Asia, and weak regional demand, and both have been cutting costs and trimming portfolios in response. A tie-up would combine two of the continent's largest chemical producers at a moment when the whole sector is under pressure, according to trade coverage from Chemical & Engineering News.

THE COURSE AND OUTCOME OF THESE EXPLORATORY TALKS REMAIN OPEN AT THIS STAGE

No binding offer has been made. Any formal bid would need to specify a price per share and would almost certainly face EU antitrust scrutiny given the combined scale of the two companies. RAG-Stiftung's position will likely be decisive: the foundation holds its large Evonik stake to fund legacy pension obligations tied to Germany's coal-mining era, giving it significant leverage — and a strong incentive to extract a rich premium — in any eventual negotiation.